With this, Celcom becomes the FIRST telco to offer extremely high speeds in connectivity, high-quality access to multimedia services and the best digital customer experience ever. The key improvement of Lightning Fast LTE over the existing 4G mobile communication services is that it supports much higher data speeds from the current peak capability up to 300Mbps reaching further up to and beyond 400Mbps (depending on the device capability), from August onwards.

This will support seamless video streaming, instant delivery of text, digitised voice, digital images, music or film downloads and real-time gaming. The deployment of Lightning Fast LTE has been initiated in the Klang Valley and it will be expanded gradually to all major cities. Azwan Khan Osman Khan, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Business Operations, Celcom Axiata Berhad said the launch reinforces Celcom’s key role in bringing the latest and globally best technology to Malaysian consumers. “We are proud to raise the bar of the mobile communications industry in Malaysia by offering the Lightning Fast LTE platform to our customers and this ties in directly with our corporate vision to continue offering the best to them.

“The Lightning Fast LTE transmission speeds up to and beyond 400Mbps will enable seamless browsing experience for the download of HD, 2K and 4K multimedia quickly, without having to compromise on quality,” he said, adding that it represented a milestone on Celcom’s technological roadmap towards the 5G technology.

In addition to Celcom’s Lightning Fast LTE network enabling much faster mobile data speeds, it also decreases latency which will reduce the time it takes to complete a data download or an upload. A high-speed downlink throughput on LTE Advanced, changes the way mobile users interact on the internet. Customers can access cloud-based applications and streaming videos on the go.

Azwan said the past few months have been an intense period of preparation to ensure that Celcom is ‘infrastructure ready’ to make this exciting service available to its customers and the market, in general. He emphasised that improving the network coverage, quality, reliability with a continued focus on LTE Advanced, will remain key areas of investment as the Celcom network evolves towards LTE Advanced Pro and 5G.

“Ultimately, the launch brings Celcom closer to being able to deliver 5G network speeds to our customers, in the near future. We will continue to bring substantial enhancements to the wireless network. We have set our sights on LTE Advanced Pro to achieve this. “As of now, the Celcom 4G service is live in 268 major cities and towns across the country,” he said, adding that Celcom will realise population coverage of 85% for 4G, 40% for 4G LTE Advanced and 10% of Lightning Fast LTE by the end of 2017, nationwide.

About Celcom Axiata Berhad

Celcom is Malaysia’s leading data network provider, with close to 11 million customers. Established in 1988, it boasts the widest national 2G, 3G and 4G LTE networks, covering over 98% of the population. Currently the largest mobile broadband and corporate services provider, Celcom is now moving towards integrated multi-access and multimedia services, in line with evolving technologies and consumer behaviour in Malaysia. A culture that places the customer FIRST™ is reflected in our award-winning customer service, products, and other corporate accolades at a regional level. Celcom is part of the Axiata Group of Companies, one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies, with close to 320 million customers across 10 Asian markets.